Wards: probation.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details about the court's ability to extend probation periods beyond the initial 12 months without imposing additional terms and conditions.

Wards: Probation Changes

This law changes how long minors can be on probation by removing exceptions for those in out-of-home placements or transitioning from secure youth treatment facilities, setting a clear limit of 12 months.

What This Bill Does

• Removes an exception that allowed minors to stay longer than 12 months on probation if they were placed in specified out-of-home placements under supervision by a probation officer.
• Applies the same 12-month probation limit to minors who have been discharged from secure youth treatment facilities and are now on probation.

Who It Names or Affects

• Minors between 12 and 17 years old who break laws, refuse to follow orders, or violate curfews.
• Probation officers and juvenile courts that handle these cases.

Terms To Know

Ward

A minor who is under the care of a court because they broke laws or are not following rules at home.

Probation

When someone, especially a young person, has to follow certain rules set by a judge instead of going to jail or being in a secure facility.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much longer probation can be extended beyond the initial 12 months.
• It is unclear if this change will affect all minors equally or if some groups might still have different rules.

Official Summary Text

AB 1886, as amended, Elhawary.
Wards: probation.
Existing law subjects a minor between 12 and 17 years of age, inclusive, who violates any federal, state, or local law or ordinance, who persistently or habitually refuses to obey the reasonable and proper orders or directions of the minor’s parents, guardian, or custodian, or who is beyond the control of that person, who violates an ordinance establishing a curfew or is truant, and a minor under 12 years of age who is alleged to have committed specified serious offenses to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge the minor to be a ward of the court. Existing law authorizes the court to make any reasonable orders for the care, supervision, custody, conduct, maintenance, and support of the ward, including ordering the ward to be on probation without the supervision of the probation officer or ordering the care, custody, and control of the ward to be under the
supervision of the probation officer who may place the ward in specified out-of-home placements. Existing law limits to 12 months from the most recent disposition hearing the period of time a ward may remain on probation, except, among other things, the limit does not apply to a ward ordered under the supervision of the probation officer for placement in specified out-of-home placements and a ward who is transferred or discharged from a secure youth treatment facility.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to expand these limitations on the probationary period to apply to youth in out-of-home placements and to youth transitioning from secure youth treatment facilities.
This bill would remove the exclusion of wards that
have been ordered to be under the supervision of the probation officer for placement in specified out-of-home placements from the 12-month limitation described above. The bill would also make these provisions applicable to wards who have been discharged from a secure youth treatment facility to a period of probation, or whose commitment to the secure youth treatment facility was set aside. The bill would authorize the court to extend a period of probation to comply with specified provisions, but would prohibit the court from imposing terms and conditions of probation or any other conditions of performance or compliance on the ward during this period of extended jurisdiction.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF